Flavia Pennetta Photos: Picture Gallery of Strokes

By Jeff Cooper, About.com Guide

In this photo, Flavia Pennetta's doubles partner, Maria Kirilenko, watches her hit a low forehand volley. Flavia is doing a great job of getting her body and her whole racquet down to the level of the ball, which she'll hit with some backspin. Low volleys are usually much more difficult to put away than higher ones, but with enough backspin to make them bounce short (for a drop volley) or skid low (for a faster, deeper volley), they can be winners or force the opponent to hit a weak, higher ball that can then be put away. Flavia and Maria demonstrate good doubles positioning here, as they've gotten to the net together and are maintaining a proper distance apart.